Hey!

Easy on the carburetor comments. :laugh:

For the 1st time ever, that was not even directed at you:)

240sx has to be on the short list as a competitor to miata. there just aren't that many rear drive light to semi-light cars out there. i still have one (1990) which i bought as a track car before getting the miata. full disclosure: i have an sr20 in the miata, so the following is what i've learned from my research on sr20 weaknesses/upgrades for road racing, not practical experience in the 240.

base model 1990 with the 3 valve motor (completely stock)
weighed it on a truck scale: 2620. not bad, but i doubt you could get it down to miata weight without some work.

goods:
lots of cheap upgrade parts: z32 aluminum uprights, z32 aluminum calipers, diff ring/pinion no problem. lots lsd choices, although drifting centric. aftermarket gearsets for 5speed transmission.

sr20det is a drop-in if you don't mind cutting holes in the body for the fmic.

rb20det has an iron block, but being a 2.0liter with the 6*2 intake valves, it breathes really well and its super cheap - $1000.

rb25det - boring, skip it.

then there is the rb26dett - and this composite dyno chart is some of the best porn out there. twin turbo setup has nice power curves, even better than a pushrod v8 imo.

http://lh5.google.com/tyndago/RvHv4T...turbochart.jpg


bads:
chassis rigidity of a wet noodle

strut front suspension. will need huge static camber to get it to turn as compared to miata.

if your game is to go fast around a track, suddenly your big market got pretty small. street driven and drift cars don't really separate wheat from chaff imo. so you will end up having a lot of trial and error to find parts which make the car faster rather than slower and/or louder.

Wirelessly posted

Man i could write a book on this. All my friends had 240`s about 5 years ago. The only cool one was a vert we converted to 5 speed then did an rb25 in. It still handled like turds. but it was sexy as shit. it was an oversized miata. In my ricer street racer days i still pulled more bitchez yo. The other ones were turds. There was an sr20 that has a gt2871r when they were newish that made 360 wheel, and i think my shit would come close. They have potential but you will be grouped with the rest of the doriftos. The coolest car i have owned to this date was a 86 corolla gts COUPE! i bought when i was 15 (11 years ago before they were cool. i am a damn trend setter) . I think these are just band wagon cars that can be fast and do well with the correct owner (see dave colemans coupe.... fuckin awesome) but i some how don`t appreciate because they lack soul. They are not and never will be as lively as your car. I have wanted to sell my car about 6 times. Now i have just settled for a chassis swap. there are few cars i would own over this one (realistically on a e-4 budget) would be a ls1 camaro 6 spd then a 96-98 cobra. I don`t even think i would trade my car for the cobra now. Keep it. You will regret not having it. I am driving my wife`s 09 si now that my clutch hose broke and i miss it allready. But i cant say shit. My mother in law said i can have her 5 spd s13 coupe fer free when my enlistment is up. Wait i have a great idea..... there so damn cheap. Buy both!!11!!1!1!1!1!11111

another thought is if you even find a clean s14, it's going to cost you around 6-9k for it. why not just get something fun, fast and comfy (if left stock)

Evo.

'03 evos with lower miles can be had for around $13k, and are amazing on the track. just need to know what to look for so you don't get a lemon.

It always amazes me how 240 guys talk about how great their cars handle. They obviously dont know shit.

Ive driven a number of 240s, stock, modified suspension, good tires, stripped, etc.
They are fucking LONG and the chassis has a TON of flex in it. The whole thing just feels like its getting buttfucked by the corner.
There is simply no comparison to a miata when it comes to handling. the 240 is not a good handling car by any means. My 3600 lbs Mustang handles better than any 240 Ive ever driven.

The only reason Id ever get a 240 is for making a street/drag car out of one, since the engines are decent and there is aftermarket support. But It wouldnt be my first choice for that either.
Id take just about any honda (made from 90-00) over a 240.

Also, 99% of 240 kids are fucking retards. Thats true for Hondas as well, but at least honda guys know that their cars handle like shit.

all i can say: i drove a few 240sx's... they were fun, but the first time i drove a miata i bought one within a month.

Good luck finding one that's not a huge pile of fecal matter

Is the 240 chassis really that flexy? I mean the miata ain't exactly the stiffest noodle in the box. I've ridden in 5 friends' 240's (2 s13 hatches, 1 zenki s14 and 2 kouki's) and all felt stiffer/more solid than my miata. My car creaks about as much as theirs do (except one kouki) and I have a 94 with frame rails and rollbar. I am yet to drive one though

One of the main reasons i would do sr vs ka is due to the light weight on the sr block ( Full aluminum) opposed to ka ( iron block). Its a pretty big difference and not having that extra weight really comes in handy.

As far as the miata vs 240sx. It depends what your intentions with the car are. Ive had a s13 before and I can tell you that my miata is much more nimble and agile than the s13 could have ever hoped to be. IMO the only area where the 240x dominates is in the drivetrain.( SR strong stock internals, beefy differential, decently strong trans).

lol @ suggesting evo to high school student.

I've spent a good amount of time behind the wheel of an rb20 swapped S13. It was pretty quick, rev'd sky high and the noise was teh sex. And it was gutted to bare minimum. It had coilovers and a lot of camber and did reasonably well at autox. It's certainly more numb to drive than a miata, but honestly any other rwd coupe will probably feel like that because it'll be bigger.

The other couple I drove were alright. One was stock and was auto so...yeah. And the last one had some nice suspension and a real solid chassis. Handled well and looked awesome with the Silvia front clip.

I know if I found a clean chassis and had the spare cash I wouldn't have an issue with building up a 240. The problem is finding a chassis that isn't rusted to shit or full of dorifto damage. And all the dashes are cracked. And no matter what, A/C just doesn't work in a 240. Ever.

I drove one and it was kinda fun....got back in my car and realized why I didn't buy a 240.

This is my buddies old 240 coupe. It was super fun to cruise around in. Had a redtop sr20 with a 2560 at around 14psi. Nice wheels, rubber and decent coilovers.

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs051...._3813584_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2836278_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5051984_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5278643_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._6283670_n.jpg
(Yes, that is a large penis)

!

I just about shit a chicken when I saw those pics

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The penis wasnt there when I was there, lol

Haha, small world. Most visitors to the keys can never find that place, more of local spot.

I was a resident of Key West for a short time. My dad still lives there.
One time when I was visiting him I saw those towers from the canal behind his house, so I drove over there to check it out and take some pics.

This is fuckin' whack.

Edit: Where's Dave Coleman when you need him...

since viperormiata is whoring out my old s13, I figured id come check out his intentions. since im here I might as well add to the discussion.

I had the pleasure of autoXing both my s13 and a friends miata "Josh wouldnt let me drive the spec :p* It felt likew no matter how more built my s13 was the miata ALWAYS felt quicker, and the times almost showed it. It all comes down to driving style and what you can handle better. S13s have HORRIBLE understeer during the initial turn in. With a stock chassis it was very hard to brake deep into a corner and pull the line. The stock bushings are 99% worn/melted/not there and feels like you are driving soggy pancake. Once the bushings are replaced it becomes a different beast.

I had my s13 tuned to compete and beat the mini coopers in my class *and they hated it* the KA has alot of useable torque in the low end, and was very comfortable with the response. The car you see was my first SR swap. It basically comes down to if you know what to replace and what to tune...the s13 chassis can be a VERY quick car. People are correct though about the sloppy feedback from the chassis. You either deal with it, learn to beat it, or spend alot of money fixing it. Truth is alot of s13 owners HAVE NO CLUE what they are doing, and gives us a bad name. I must apologize for them.

My white s13 was BATSHIT fast, and stuck to whatever line you felt like running. But enough about that. Lets talk about my experience with my friends miata.

Both cars with minimal mods and good rubber...I would post times 5-10 seconds faster in the miata than I could with my s13. The car loved feedback and went there you wanted it to go. Driving that was so much fun. I didnt care for the snap oversteer but thats expected from such a short wheelbase. The car constantly felt like it wanted its rear end sideways. The body roll was HORRENDOUS! With these problems taken out of the picture the miata was out of the s13s league. I simply could not post times the way I could in the miata.

All in all, if I were to build a dedicated track car. I would pick the miata. The upkeep on the tuned s13 was rediculous. The SR is prone to running a wee bit hot, and doesnt like long track sessions. Cooling wasalways a concern for it. I feel a lesser built miata could outrun a s13 any day.....unless we were talking about my white car :p

Before I got my miata I was also in the market for a 240. The wet noodle chassis was definitely a deal breaker for me. That and every highschool kid that has one thinks them and their cars are the dopest shit on planet earth. I think all gens look fantastic though.